Moving slowly, and with as much wisdom as caution, Gustavus relieved Pomerania from the Imperial troops, by the end of the year. He then took Frankfort-on-the-Oder by storm, and forced the Elector of Brandenburg to give him the use of Spandau as a fortress, until he should have relieved Magdeburg, the only German city which had forcibly resisted the "Edict of Restitution," and was now besieged by Tilly and Pappenheim. As the city was hard pressed, Gustavus demanded of John George, Elector of Saxony, permission to march through his territory: it was refused! Magdeburg was defended by 2,300 soldiers and 5,000 armed citizens against an army of 30,000 men, for more than a month; then, on the 10th of May, 1631, it was taken by storm, and given up to the barbarous fury of Tilly and his troops. The city sank in blood and ashes: 30,000 of the inhabitants perished by the sword, or in the flames, or crushed under falling walls, or drowned in the waters of the Elbe. Only 4,000, who had taken refuge in the Cathedral, were spared. Tilly wrote to the Emperor: "Since the fall of Troy and Jerusalem, such a victory has never been seen; and I am sincerely sorry that the ladies of your imperial family could not have been present as spectators!"
Gustavus Adolphus has been blamed, especially by the admirers and defenders of the houses of Brandenburg and Saxony, for not having saved Magdeburg. This he might have done, had he disregarded the neutrality asserted by John George; but he had been bitterly disappointed at his reception by the Protestant princes, he could not trust them, and was not strong enough to fight Tilly with possible enemies in his rear. In fact, George William of Brandenburg immediately ordered him to give up Spandau and leave his territory. Then Gustavus did what he should have done at first: he planted his cannon before Berlin, and threatened to lay the city in ashes. This brought George William to his senses; he agreed that his fortresses should be used by the Swedes, and contributed 30,000 dollars a month towards the expenses of the war. So many recruits flocked to the Swedish standard that both Mecklenburgs were soon cleared of the Imperial troops, the banished Dukes restored, and an attack by Tilly upon the fortified camp of Gustavus was repulsed with heavy losses.
1631. DEFEAT OF TILLY.
Landgrave William of Hesse Cassel was the first Protestant prince who voluntarily allied himself with the Swedish king. He was shortly followed by the unwilling but helpless John George of Saxony, whose territory was invaded and wasted by Tilly's army. Ferdinand II. had given this order, meaning that the Elector should at least support his troops. Tilly took possession of Halle, Naumburg and other cities, plundered and levied heavy contributions, and at last entered Leipzig, after bombarding it for four days. Then John George united his troops with those of Gustavus Adolphus, who now commanded an army of 35,000 men.
Tilly and Pappenheim had an equal force to oppose him. After a good deal of cautious manœuvring, the two armies stood face to face near Leipzig, on the 17th of September, 1631. The Swedes were without armor, and Gustavus distributed musketeers among the cavalry and pikemen. Banner, one of his generals, commanded his right, and Marshal Horn his left, where the Saxons were stationed. The army of Tilly was drawn up in a long line, and the troops wore heavy cuirasses and helmets: Pappenheim commanded the left, opposite Gustavus, while Tilly undertook to engage the Saxons. The battle-cry of the Protestants was "God with us!"—that of the Catholics "Jesu Maria!" Gustavus, wearing a white hat and green feather, and mounted on a white horse, rode up and down the lines, encouraging his men. The Saxons gave way before Tilly, and began to fly; but the Swedes, after repelling seven charges of Pappenheim's cavalry, broke the enemy's right wing, captured the cannon and turned them against Tilly. The Imperial army, thrown into confusion, fled in disorder, pursued by the Swedes, who cut them down until night put an end to the slaughter. Tilly, severely wounded, narrowly escaped death, and reached Halle with only a few hundred men.
1632.
This splendid victory restored the hopes of the Protestants everywhere. Duke Bernard of Saxe-Weimar had joined Gustavus before the battle: in his zeal for the cause, his honesty and bravery, he resembled the king, whose chief reliance as a military leader, he soon became. John George of Saxony consented, though with evident reluctance, to march into Bohemia, where the crushed Protestants were longing for help, while the Swedish army advanced through Central Germany to the Rhine. Tilly gathered together the scattered Imperial forces left in the North, followed, and vainly endeavored to check Gustavus. The latter took Würzburg, defeated 17,000 men under Charles of Lorraine, who had crossed the Rhine to oppose him, and entered Frankfort in triumph. Here he fixed his winter-quarters, and allowed his faithful Swedish troops the rest which they so much needed.
The territory of the Archbishop of Mayence, and of other Catholic princes, which he overran, was not plundered or laid waste: Gustavus proclaimed everywhere religious freedom, not retaliation for the barbarities inflicted on the Protestants. He soon made himself respected by his enemies, and his influence spread so rapidly that the idea of becoming Emperor of Germany was a natural consequence of his success. His wife, Queen Eleanor, had joined him; he held a splendid court at Frankfort, and required the German princes whom he had subjected to acknowledge themselves his dependents. The winter of 1631—32 was given up to diplomacy, rather than war. Richelieu began to be jealous of the increasing power of the Swedish king, and entered into secret negotiations with Maximilian of Bavaria. The latter also corresponded with Gustavus Adolphus, who by this time had secured the neutrality of the States along the Rhine, and the support of a large majority of the population of the Palatinate, Baden and Würtemberg.
In the early spring of 1632, satisfied that no arrangement with Maximilian was possible, Gustavus reorganized his army and set out for Bavaria. The city of Nuremberg received him with the wildest rejoicing: then he advanced upon Donauwörth, drove out Maximilian's troops and restored Protestant worship in the churches. Tilly, meanwhile, had added Maximilian's army to his own, and taken up a strong position on the eastern bank of the river Lech, between Augsburg and the Danube. Gustavus marched against him, cannonaded his position for three days from the opposite bank, and had partly crossed under cover of the smoke before his plan was discovered. On the 15th of April Tilly was mortally wounded, and his army fled in the greatest confusion: he died a few days afterwards, at Ingolstadt, 73 years old.
1632. WALLENSTEIN RESTORED TO POWER.